Anchor Browser Workflow

When to use Anchor Browser vs Web Scraper:

Step 1: Get an API Key

1. Go to app.anchorbrowser.io/api-keys
2. Create an account or sign in
3. Generate a new API key
4. In Publish Owl, go to Settings
5. Find Anchor Browser (b0) and paste your API key

Step 2: Add to Your Workflow

1. Create or edit a workflow
2. In Workflow Steps, click + Add Step
3. Select Anchor Browser (b0) from the provider dropdown
4. Configure the settings (explained below)

Note: Anchor Browser has usage costs based on session time and AI usage. Check their pricing page for current rates.

Target URL

Where the browser should start. You have three options:

• Full URL: https://example.com/page - Start at a specific page
• Keyword placeholder: {"https://example.com/search?q={{keyword}}"} - Insert your keyword
• Leave empty: The browser will Google search for your keyword

Max Steps

Controls how many actions the browser can take (clicks, scrolls, typing, etc.).

• Default: 150 steps
• Range: 1-500 steps
• Guidance: Simple tasks need 20-50 steps. Complex multi-page workflows may need 200+

AI Provider & Model

Anchor Browser uses AI to understand your instructions and control the browser. Choose which AI powers the automation:

You can enter any model ID supported by the provider. Check each provider's docs for available models.

Capture Screenshot

Enable this to capture a final screenshot if none were taken during the task. This is a fallback - you can also request screenshots in your prompt (see below).

Basic Structure

1. Navigate to [where]
2. Find [what]
3. Click/Type/Extract [action]
4. Take a screenshot of [what you want to capture]

Example: Research a Product

Search for "{'{{keyword}}'}" on Amazon.
Find the top 5 products in the search results.
For each product, extract:
- Product name
- Price
- Star rating
- Number of reviews
Take a screenshot of the search results page.

Example: Check Competitor Pricing

Go to competitor.com
Navigate to their pricing page.
Extract all pricing tiers, including:
- Plan names
- Monthly and annual prices
- Key features for each tier
Take a screenshot of the pricing table.

Example: Login and Extract Data

Go to app.example.com/login
Log in with email SECRET_EMAIL and password SECRET_PASSWORD.
Navigate to the dashboard.
Find the analytics section.
Extract the key metrics displayed.
Take a screenshot of the dashboard.

Note: SECRET_EMAIL and SECRET_PASSWORD are placeholders for secure credentials. Configure the actual values in the Secret Values section of your workflow settings.

Tips for Better Prompts:

• Be specific about what to click ("Click the blue 'Sign Up' button")
• Mention "take a screenshot" when you want to capture something
• Use {'{{keyword}}'} to insert your job's keyword
• Break complex tasks into numbered steps
• Tell it what data to extract explicitly

Example Phase Breakdown

Your prompt: "Go to example.com, find the pricing page, extract prices, take a screenshot"

Tip: Be specific about what you want in the screenshot. "Take a screenshot of the pricing table" is better than just "take a screenshot".

How to Use

1. In your prompt, use placeholder names like SECRET_EMAIL or SECRET_PASSWORD
2. In the Anchor Browser settings, click + Add Secret
3. Enter the placeholder name (e.g., SECRET_EMAIL) and the actual value
4. The browser will substitute the real values when executing

Example Prompt

Go to app.example.com/login
Log in with email SECRET_EMAIL and password SECRET_PASSWORD
Navigate to the dashboard and extract the key metrics.

Then in your workflow's Secret Values section, add SECRET_EMAIL and SECRET_PASSWORD with your actual credentials.

Security Tip: Your job logs will show SECRET_EMAIL and SECRET_PASSWORD instead of the actual values. Only you can see the real credentials in the workflow settings.

Typical Workflow

Step 1: Anchor Browser
  → Researches competitor pricing, captures screenshots
  → Output: Pricing data + screenshot URLs

Step 2: OpenAI/Claude Writer
  → Receives the pricing data
  → Writes a comparison article

Step 3: Editor (optional)
  → Polishes the article

What You Can Do

• Watch live: See the browser navigate and interact with pages in real-time
• Debug issues: Understand exactly what the browser is doing and where it gets stuck
• Stop the session: If something goes wrong, you can stop the session from the Anchor Browser dashboard
• Review later: Recordings are saved so you can review completed sessions anytime

• Not available for Template (pSEO) workflows: Anchor Browser is skipped in batch processing due to cost and time
• Session limit: Each session has a 30-minute maximum duration
• One job at a time: Each job creates a new browser session
• Costs money: Anchor Browser charges per session time and AI usage
• Slower than scraper: Full browser automation takes more time